Perforated tune-sheet for mechanical piano-players and the like.



- F. H. MOWBRAY. P'EMDRATED wai SHEET Hm uscmncu mno PLAYERS AND THE |x. APPUCATWU NLEB IULT I2. 1915.

1,281,632. Patented Oct. 15, 1918.

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1,281,632. Patented 001115, 1918.

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rnrtr'onn'rnn TUNE-SHEET roe. mEcHAnIcAL PIANO-PLAYERS AND THE LIKE.

Specification 01' Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15, 1918.

Application filed July 12, 1915. Serial No. 89,391.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK Hnnnnnr Mow- BRAY, a subject of the Kin of Great Britain, residing at Norfolk iodge, Oldfield Road Maidenhead, in the county of Berks, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Perforated Tune sheets for Mechanical Piano- Players and the like, of which the following is a specification. V c 7 This invention relates to perforated tune sheets for mechanical iano players and the 7 like which sheets are a apted to be used with 'for the horizontal arrangement and such 7 by turning instruments having either vertical or horizontal tracker bars and the respective sur:

faces of which bear stave lineskey and-time signatures, expression marks, 7 taining to the composition to be performed, so arranged that they can be read by the performer when the sheet is used on an instru ment provided with either type of tracker bar, The music characters, words and markings on tune sheets of this kind haveheretotore been printed by means of two ,independent sets of rinting plates that is to say, one set for V printing operations have rendered 'the prw duetion of the tune sheets extremely 7 expensive.

According production is considerably reducedhy printgr h elinssk yc use t e signatur notes and othercmus c ehar ctsrsespr marks, swords and thelike (hereina ter r notes and other music characters; words and the like per-f t e vertical and another set 7 changed from that suitable for one surface of the sheet to that suitable for, theother surface thereof; in other words the adjustment of the printing plates will allow of the stave lines, notes and other characters woncthe sheet'being produced .to suit either vertical or horizontal tracker bars. The rmtmg plates which represent the stove Z mes, notespnd other characters may be 7 madc' equal in length to one bar of the music and terminal bar lines may be provided on each plate, "so that they may be used singly foneolumn printing or in conjunction with similar plates for line printing.

7 Only one terminal bar line may be provided for each bar on the printing plate and in this case it would be necessary to provide other plates for printing the missin h'ar lineswheu the printing' plates are used for column printing. Or each bar line may ing would constitute a separate and thinner c linefor each bar. 7 c

'The printing plates may he of the letter pressintaglio or lithographiccharacter and 7 they may be made of hard material such as metal or'composition or of flexible material r V Z sluchasrnbher. For sharpness of printing, to thism1ent1onthe cost of 'ecqsnnyuimenufacwm and facility of hen dlingc thin metal plates having the stave notes and other characters in relief are preferably employed. When the width ofthe' printing plate is greater than one bar length asmay occur when the matter to be printed consists of three or more stave notation 'or'th'e bar lengthsv of a girenceomposition are very short, the printing plate units may he ofctwoc or morehar lengths, so as to gain sufficient space onthe tune sheet to readso as to produce: c lumn printing for yeraccommodate the plates for column printtical reading or continuous horizontal reading. 7

The printing latesmay be grouped upon a c ntlnuous up etc carrier or a series of late carriers each representing apart of the ength of the tune sheet, the size and arrangement of the printin plates bein suchthat each o the plates t rough 90' degrees the design or arrangement of the stave hues, notes line printing for; in

and other characters is' n order that the said invention maybe clearly understood and readily carried into eilect I will proceed to describe the same more fuilywith reference to the accompanying' drawings, in which:-- f Figure-l is a plan of a portion of a plate carrier with various printing plates screwed in position thereon forcprintingthe side of the tune sheet which is visible to the performer when used on instrnmentsfitted with vertical tracker bars.

Fig. 2 is a plan of a portion of a platecarrier withthe samgprinting platesarranged in position for printing the side of thetune sheet which is visibleto the performer when used on. instruments fitted with. horizontal tracker bars.

. Fig. 3 is a similarview of theplatecarrier and printing plates when the latter have a greater width than their bar length.

a is the plate carrier which is provided at each edge with register preserving sprocket holes 6, and which is riddled with numerous register preserving screw holes a. at d, are the 'plates for printing the musical notation and Words of songs and they are secured to the plate. carr er a by means of screws d. In Fig. 1 these plates are shown abutting together to form a continuous line for horizontal reading on vertical tracker bar instruments whereas in Fig. 2' the same plates are shown after having been turned through 90 degrees so as to producemol'umn printing for vertical reading on horizontal tracker bar instruments.

The printing plates dd may be. provided with a thin bar lineat each end sothat in the case of continuous Iine printing where the plates abut against each other the two thin lines would form a bar line of normal thickness. This arrangement however imposes an absolutely predetermined length upon each of the printing plates (1 and necessitates accurate closing together and finishing of the ends of the plates to secure an unbroken line. In view of'this fact it is preferable to. provide each printing 'plate (I with a bar line'ol of normal width at one end and to leave thestave lines at the other end open. This arrangement allows some latitude in the length of the printing plates and they can be c'ut off to the exact length necessary to fit closely together for continuous line printing. When such plates .are turned through QQdegrees for vertical reading as shown in Fig. 2, supplementary printing plates e may be used to print the bar lines at the open endsof the stave lines. The plates 0 .may be securedto the plate carrier at by means of screws d" in a similar manner to the printing plates d.

The plate carrier a is provided with another series of screw holes 0 at the edge remote from the printingl plates cl. These holes are intended for a xing other plates f, ftor printing the expression marks, annotations and the like either as shown in Fig. 1 or .after having been turned through 90 degrees asshown in"Fig. 2. g'gare printing plates which may be used for printing] bar"lines and stave lines. corresponding to ,andon th at part of the tune sheet usually occupiedby the Inusicnote V perforations or playing perforations.

Whentthe pnintingplates d, d have a greater width dt than. their bar length they are made in units of two bar lengths as shown in lglig. .3. Inthismanner sufficient space is providedhfor. column printing.

It is of course essential to the correct printing ofveach surface of the-tune sheet that in both arrangements of the printing plates ..there should be an exact gegistering relation between the said plates, their corresponding plate carrier or carriers and the perforations in the tune sheet.

When hand printing plates are empioyed,

the correct. registering relation of the printng plates with the. plate carrier or carriers of the plate carrier. Any other means 'may 'however be employed whereby registration may be efi'ected and maintained in the printin machine. If the tune fsheet is printed b'cIore perforation, registration 'points or marksmay be produced thereon to facilitate accurate adjustment of the sheet in'the perforating machine.

Various forms of plate carriers may be employed, such as an endlessmandbfmnr formlythick and flexiblematerial, a series of metal plates jointed together toform an endless band or chain, or a series of-independent plates of. uniform thickness and ength. i In the lattercasejthe edges of the plate carriers would preferably be provided Wlth'iSPI'OCkGt holes to enable thenr'to be fed in registering sequence and relation through the printing machine.

The subdivision ofthe printing'plates-and the arrangements hereinbefore described for insuring, correct registering posit ion thereof on the plate carrier or-carriers enable continuous line printin on one side of double sided tune sheets an column PlillltlllgfOIl-fih other side thereof, to be -accomplished by one set of plates.

Similarly the sameset of plates may be used for printing two distincttypesof tune sheet, viz: tunesheets printed on one-sirle only in continuous line printing forwertieal tracker bar instruments" and 4 tune sheets printed on oneside only iii-column printing for horizontal tracker bar instruments.

What I *claim as'my invention and desire ends of the plates and means to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a printing member for printing stave lines, notes and other characters on tune sheets, a carrier, a set of printing plates, a bar line of normal width at one end of each plate, supplementary printing plates bearing the bar lines for the other for afiixing said plates to the carrier, the arrangement being such that continuous line printing or column printing can be obtained at will.

2. In a printing member for printing stave lines, notes and other characters on tune sheets, the combination of a carrier, a set of printing plates, each plate having the edges of its printing face adapted to closely engage edges of the printing faces of adjacent plates so that the plates may be placed end to end to obtain an unbroken printing surface, and means for detachably ailixing said plates to the carrier to obtain continuous line printin or column printing.

3. In a printing member for printing stave lines, notes and other characters on tune sheets, the combination of a carrier, a set of printing plates, each plate having the edges of its printing face adapted to closely engage the edges of the printing faces of adJaCBnt plates so that the plates may be placed end to end to obtain a continuous unbroken printing surface, and detachable means located wholly within the edges of the plates for affixing said plates to the carrier for obtaining continuous line printing or column printing.

4. In a printing member for printing stave lines, notes and other characters on tune sheets, the combination of a carrier riddled with screw openings, a set of printing plates, each plate having the edges of its printing face adapted to closely engage the edges of the printing faces of adjacent plates so that the plates may be placed end to end to obtain a continuous unbroken printing surface, and screws for detachably afiixing said plates to the carrier to obtain continuous line printing or column printing. 5. In a printing member for printing stave lines, notes and other characters on tune sheets, the combination of a carrier Copies of this patent may be obtained for riddled with screw openings, a set of printing plates, each plate having the edges of its printing face adapted to closely engage the edges of the printing faces of adjacent sheets so that the plates may be placed end to end to obtain a continuous unbroken printing surface, each of said plates also having screw holes located entirely Within their edges, and screws for detachably atlixing said lates to the carrier to obtain continuous line printing of column printing.

6. In a printing member for printing stave lines, notes and other characters on tune sheets, the combination of a carrier band having along one of its edges a zone riddled with a multiplicity of screw openings, a set of printing plates of one or more bar lengths upon the zone of screw openings, each plate having the edges of its printing face adapted to closely engage the edges of the printing faces of adjacent plates, the portion of the carrier riddled with screw openings being of sufiicient length to receive one or more of said plates placed transversely thereof, each of said plates also having screw openings located entirely within its edges, and screws adapted to be received by said screw openings in said plates and said carrier for afiixing said plates to the carrier to obtain continuous line printing or column printing 7. In a printing member for printing stave lines, notes and other characters on tune sheets, the combination of a carrier having along each of its edges and located to either side of the space correspondin to that portion of the note sheet occupied by playing perforations, a zone riddled with a multiplicity of screw holes; means for preserving correct rcgistering relation between the carrier and the playing perforations of the tune sheet during the printing operation; a set oi" printing plates of one or more bar lengths upon one of the zones of screw holes and adapted to be arranged thereon to obtain continuous line printing or column printing; a second set of plates upon the other zone of screw holes; and screws for affixing said plates to the carrier in adjusted positions.

FRANK HERBERT MOWBRAY.

five cents eac by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

